Do you hear that sound? This is the sound of NFL news and rumors swirling as the impending storm of the football season approaches our shores! There’s always some kind of outrage, whether it’s the suspension of the game or the NIL issues in college football, but the topic of the day is this: Are NFL running backs underpaid? Boys like it Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobsi Tony Pollard are fighting the franchise tag while Joe Mixon he’s not making it easy for everyone else by taking some a hometown discount with your contract restructuring. It has been enough to ask the vets how Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylori Austin Thank you a weigh in. And even with all that’s going on, there’s one shoe that has to drop first for the rest of the free agent running backs, such as Ezekiel ElliottLeonard Fournette and Kareem Hunt to find a home. A man who can set those wheels in motion so we can finish ours fantasy football rankingsget some clarification a ADP, and make some moves in our dynasty leagues. We’re all waiting for the free agent king who runs the hill back… Dalvin Cook. And, if the RB Highlander signs with the current favorite in the Vegas betting odds, the New England Patriotswe will all be very upset.
THE PROBABILITY
Here are the current leaders to land Dalvin Cook based on DraftKings Sportsbook:
After that you have much longer shots with three times the odds, minimum:
Commanders, Cowboys, Broncos +1500Giants, Bills, Raiders +1500Bears +2000
All others are over +3000. And teams like the Cowboys, Giants and Raiders are only there because the starting running backs from all three teams are currently on the franchise tag and threatening to hold. These teams are locked into paying the initial $10 million if they sign the tag, and neither team wanted to pay much more than that, so I have a hard time believing they’ll go out and spend whatever it takes now. Dalvin Cook. So it’s really a three-horse race if you think about it, although the only team I’d be willing to throw money at out of these longer-shot teams is the Denver Broncos Yes Javonte WilliamsThe knee is worse than we’ve been led to believe.
I’ll be honest with you because I’m a Patriots fan. But first and foremost, I’m a fantastic football analyst. So I’m willing to admit that everyone who isn’t a Patriots fan wouldn’t like this move. We want as many “bell” running backs as possible in fantasy football, which Rhammond Stevenson it seems like it came up like last year. Yes Dalvin Cook goes to New England, it seems pretty clear that there would be a split between Rhamondre and Dalvin that would hurt both fantasy values. And it’s absolutely something Bill Belichick would do because he doesn’t care about your fantasy teams.
What is perhaps even more interesting is what happens if Dalvin does NOT sign. Just the fact that he’s being highly considered tells us that New England is interested in having someone contribute in that pass rush role that was previously held by guys like James White, Danny Woodhead, and Kevin Faulk. Last year, week 1, Ty Montgomery he played 20 snaps out of the backfield and had four targets before getting hurt in that game. His name was thrown out by former Patriots RB coach Ivan Fears as a candidate. But the most exciting option is the second-year player Pierre Strong who ran a 4.37 forty, which is in the 99th percentile for runners. Patriots beat writer Evan Lazar says he should be on our radar as a top contender. All this is debatable, of course, yes Dalvin Cook comes to town
Right now the Miami Dolphins Currently, the backfield looks like a two- or three-headed monster, depending on how you feel. Like that, yes Dalvin Cook lands there and takes over the top spot, it’s a little easier to stomach for dynasty fantasy players and early fantasy drafters. Currently, based on our composite ADP, Rhammond Stevenson goes early in the third round at pick ~27. This is where the Dolphins’ backs go.
Assuming Dalvin isn’t going, I know Jeff Wilson he will play a role, to some extent, as the spoiler in the short back. The sprinter Raheem Mostert he’s also one of Mike McDaniel’s favorites from his time in San Francisco, so he’ll get some touches. The real wild card is rookie De’Von Achane, who ran a 4.32 forty at the NFL combine. It could be a world where he’s simply Mostert’s backup as a guy in space (in which case he might end up seeing the field anyway given how often Mostert gets hurt). Or Achane has a chance to potentially be the best in the room from day one and win that starting job. This high-risk, high-reward proposition puts Achane first out of the pack.
As much as we don’t like him for fantasy football purposes, especially the dynasty leagues where we spent to acquire Breece Room, we really can’t deny that this one makes a lot of sense, right? Hall is coming off a torn ACL. They just traded for a 39-year-old quarterback. They are in win-now mode and really don’t have time to cheat. So how could we really blame them for taking a shot at Dalvin? Aaron Rodgers he competed against him for a long time in the NFC North and probably has a lot of respect for him so he could join the list of players Rodgers has drafted for the Jets.
If they bring in Dalvin, that will crush any hype around us Michael Carter which was not vaporized Breece Room now. The same goes for excitement over Zonovan “Bam” Knight for his limited work last year after Hall went down. And it also takes a pre-draft and fifth-round pick Israel Abanikanda and it puts him even more on the outside looking in. So yes, it makes sense for the Jets to take now Dalvin Cook. And it could turn out to be a solid spot for his draft value in 2023. But that’s not much fun for the dynasty players those other backs are hiding.
